Posted: Dec 30, 2014
Bulldogs Swim to 5th Place Finish
The Bulldog Swimming & Diving Team turned in strong showings on Tuesday against a loaded field including several top 5 squads in the state at the Panther Invitational. Both teams walked away with many outstanding performances and fifth place finishes in the boys, girls and combined standings.
"Competition this time of the season can be a mixed bag due to the heavy training teams everywhere are putting in, but it's important that you do it for several reasons," Head Coach Josh Saylor said. "You need to perform when you're sore or tired, you need to perform when conditions aren't optimal. All of those things give you confidence for the biggest meets of the season. We did well today and should be able to resume training with certainty that we're doing the things we need to do to reach our goals."
Senior Kierra Watson (100 Backstroke), junior Madison Kehr (100 Freestyle) and sophomore Danielle LeClerc (Diving) all chipped in team high sixth place finishes for the girls. Freshman Kayla Cromer finished seventh in diving while Kehr (200 IM) and sophomore AJ Moll (500 Freestyle) added 8th place finishes.
Kehr, Moll, Watson and junior Piper Lovett finished sixth in the 400 Freestyle Relay, while Kehr, Lovett, Watson and freshman Bailey LaPaugh finished 8th in the 200 Medley Relay. Additional impressive season best swims were turned in by seniors Breanna Smith (50 Freestyle) and Megan Wolf (500 Freestyle) and freshman Annabelle Ketchem (100 Butterfly).
The Bulldog boys started and ended the meet with first place relays. The quartet of seniors Joe Ancel, Kyle Baney, Diego La Torre and junior Vince Partlow won the 200 Medley Relay while Ancel, Baney, Partlow and senior Cameron Howard won the 400 Freestyle Relay. Partlow (500 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly) and Ancel (100 Breaststroke) had team high third place finishes individually, while Baney had a top finish of fourth in the 200 Freestyle Relay and Howard finished sixth in the 200 IM.
Howard, La Torre, senior Chad Hale and freshman Jack Lukens finished fourth in the 200 Freestyle Relay and sophomore Justin Garnett finished fifth in diving. Big time drops and season bests were also turned in by senior Jimmy Breedlove (100 Freestyle), sophomore Riley Koester (200 Freestyle) and freshman Christian Hammerly (100 Freestyle).
"We continue to show good things against great competition," Saylor said. "Again, confidence is key and all of this experience in big meets will translate to success down the road."
The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday, January 6, traveling to McCutcheon for a 6pm contest with the Mavericks.
